Meeting between Minister for Housing, True North and Avant Homes: FOI release

Information requested

Minutes of the meeting between Housing Minister Paul McLennan, True North and Avant Homes on 24/01/24. See this entry in the lobbying register:
https://www.lobbying.scot/SPS/InformationReturn/SearchInformationReturnDetail/52330

Please also provide details of any correspondence between the parties before and after the meeting.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested electronically. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information), and an exemption under section 30(c) of FOISA (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) apply to that information.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information that you have requested. Section 38(1)(b) applies because it is personal data of a third party, for example names of individuals or other personal data and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test'.

An exemption under section 30(c) of FOISA (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) applies to some of the information requested. This section has been applied because some information is exempt under section 30(c) of FOISA (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs). It is essential for Ministers to be able to discuss, often in confidence, matters with external stakeholders such as Industry and Industry bodies on a range of issues. Disclosing the content of the information from this correspondence, is likely to undermine their trust in the Scottish Government and will substantially inhibit communications on this type of issue in the future. Stakeholders will be reluctant to participate in providing views if they believe their views are likely to be made public. This would significantly harm the Government's ability to carry out many aspects of its work and could adversely affect its ability to gather all of the advice and views it needs to make fully informed decisions. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption.

We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the process of allowing Ministers and officials a private space within which external stakeholders can offer views and advice as part of the process of exploring and refining the Government's position on a range of issues, until the Government as a whole can adopt policies or decisions that are sound and likely to be effective. There is also a public interest in maintaining the trust and confidence of external stakeholders such as Industry and Industry Bodies. This private space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, so that good decisions can be taken based on fully informed advice and evidence. Disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between the Scottish Government and these stakeholders, which in turn will undermine the quality of the policy making process, which would not be in the public interest.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500449202 - Information released - Annex

File type

PDF

File size

1.5 MB